JP7613285B2 - Delivery support system - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a delivery support system.

Conventionally, there is known technology for creating a delivery plan when delivering packages to multiple delivery destinations. For example, Patent Literature 1 discloses a technology for creating a delivery plan according to the cost of delivery based on the amount of packages to be delivered, the number of delivery vehicles, and the number of delivery personnel.

JP 2020-4181 A

The delivery plan described in Patent Document 1 is configured to postpone some deliveries to the next day or later if the delivery deadline cannot be met in the created delivery plan. However, if deliveries are postponed to the next day or later, there is a risk that the deliveries will not arrive at the destination by the time required by the recipient.

The present invention was made in consideration of the above problems, and aims to provide a system that reduces the possibility of deliveries being made later than the scheduled delivery time.

To achieve the above object, the present invention comprises a delivery request information acquisition unit that acquires delivery request information including the delivery destination, delivery volume, and delivery time of the delivery item, a delivery vehicle information acquisition unit that acquires delivery vehicle information including the number of delivery vehicles and the load capacity of the delivery vehicles, and a delivery plan generation unit that generates a delivery plan based on the delivery request information and the delivery vehicle information, and the delivery plan generation unit acquires multiple delivery plans for different delivery times, and when a delivery plan that cannot adhere to the delivery time is acquired, corrects the delivery item included in the delivery plan that cannot adhere to the delivery time so that it is delivered at an earlier time than the delivery plan.

In other words, when a delivery plan that cannot adhere to the delivery time is acquired, the delivery support system delivers the delivery item included in the delivery plan that cannot adhere to the delivery time at an earlier time than the delivery plan (i.e., delivers according to the delivery plan that is earlier than the delivery plan). This reduces or avoids the possibility of the delivery item being delivered later than the scheduled delivery time.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a delivery assistance system. FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of delivery request information. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of delivery vehicle information. FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an example of a delivery plan. 13 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a delivery assistance process.

Here, the embodiments of the present invention will be described in the following order.
(1) Configuration of delivery support system:
(2) Delivery support processing:
(3) Other embodiments:

(1) Configuration of delivery support system:
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a delivery support system 10 according to the present invention. In this embodiment, the delivery support system 10 is, for example, a stationary general-purpose computer or a cloud-type external server, and is realized by a server operated from an administrator terminal 100. The administrator terminal 100 can be, for example, a general-purpose computer or a mobile terminal, and is equipped with a display and an operation input unit (not shown). For example, an administrator who manages the operation of delivery vehicles belonging to multiple bases or a specific base operates the operation input unit of the administrator terminal 100 to cause the delivery support system 10 to create a delivery plan. Note that this embodiment is intended to provide delivery support when delivering goods to each store of a convenience store, for example.

In this embodiment, the delivery plan is a plan for one or more delivery vehicles departing from multiple bases or a specific base to visit multiple delivery destinations in a predetermined order and deliver packages at each delivery destination. In this embodiment, the delivery plan is created by defining the order in which each delivery vehicle arrives at multiple delivery destinations and the period during which loading and unloading is performed at each delivery destination. Specifically, the delivery support system 10 outputs the deliveries to be unloaded at each delivery destination (i.e., each store), the location of each delivery destination, the location of the delivery base (shipping point) of the target delivery vehicle, etc. to the VRP (Vehicle Routing Problem) server 200 to create a delivery plan. The delivery plan is created by defining the order in which each delivery vehicle arrives at multiple delivery destinations, the period (time) during which loading and unloading is performed at each delivery destination, and the deliveries to be unloaded. The VRP server 200 is a server that creates a delivery plan for vehicles departing from delivery bases to deliver goods to each store using a known algorithm.

In this embodiment, the delivery support system 10, the administrator terminal 100, and the VRP server 200 can communicate with each other via a network. Note that the administrator terminal 100 only needs to be able to communicate with at least the delivery support system 10, and the communication method is not particularly limited. Similarly, the VRP server 200 only needs to be able to communicate with at least the delivery support system 10, and the communication method is not particularly limited.

The delivery support system 10 includes a control unit 20 including a CPU, RAM, ROM, etc., a recording medium 30, and a communication unit 40. The control unit 20 executes various programs stored in the recording medium 30 and the ROM. The control unit 20 can execute a delivery support program 21 as an example of this program. The communication unit 40 is a device for wirelessly communicating with external devices, and the control unit 20 can communicate with the administrator terminal 100 and the VRP server 200 via the communication unit 40.

The recording medium 30 stores delivery request information 30a, delivery vehicle information 30b, and map information 30c. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the data configuration of the delivery request information 30a. The delivery request information 30a stores information input by the administrator at the administrator terminal 100, for example, and is defined for each delivery destination. Specifically, the administrator terminal 100 collects delivery requests from each delivery destination, and the collected delivery requests are sent to the delivery support system 10 at a predetermined time. In this embodiment, the administrator terminal 100 collects request information from each delivery destination, but each delivery destination may send a delivery request directly to the delivery support system 10. The delivery request information 30a shown here includes, for example, the delivery item (luggage), delivery destination, delivery amount, delivery time, temperature range of the delivery item (for example, chilled, room temperature, frozen), and priority of the delivery item.

The delivery item is a package (or product) that corresponds to the temperature range of the delivery item. For example, if the temperature range of the delivery item is refrigerated products, this includes rice balls, bento lunches, side dishes, cooked bread, salads, dairy products, desserts, etc. If the temperature range of the delivery item is room temperature products, this includes drinking water, processed foods, instant noodles, sweets, miscellaneous goods such as stationery and detergent, etc. If the temperature range is frozen products, this includes ice cream, rock ice, frozen foods, fryers, etc. In the delivery request information 30a, the delivery item is specified by identification information for identifying the delivery item (listed as product A, product B, etc. in Figure 2).

The delivery destination is the store to which the package is delivered, and there are multiple locations. In the example shown in FIG. 2, store A and store B are shown as examples of delivery destination stores. In the delivery request information 30a, the delivery item is specified by identification information for identifying the delivery destination (shown as store A, store B, etc. in FIG. 2).

The delivery volume is, for example, the number of shipping containers called "banju" (boxes) used in convenience stores, etc., and in the example shown in Figure 2, the number of such boxes is defined as a "unit."

The delivery time is the time when loading and unloading may be carried out at the delivery destination for delivery, and includes a specified time (e.g., 6:00) and a specified time period (e.g., 6:00-7:00). In the example shown in Figure 2, the specified time period is defined as a "flight." Also, convenience stores and the like usually deliver parcels multiple times a day, such as a morning, afternoon, and evening flight. The example shown in Figure 2 shows the first and second flights.

As mentioned above, the temperature zones of deliveries are divided into chilled, room temperature, frozen, etc., and each is managed at a specified temperature. For example, chilled items are managed at around 5°C, room temperature items at around 20°C, and frozen items at around -20°C. The managed temperatures may be changed as appropriate depending on the characteristics of the product, etc.

The priority of a delivery is an index determined according to the need to adhere to a delivery time. Although it is desirable to deliver a delivery item to a destination at the scheduled delivery time, there are cases where the delivery item cannot be loaded onto a delivery vehicle due to factors such as the vehicle's load capacity. In such cases, in this embodiment, the delivery time (service) is changed according to the priority of the delivery item. The priority of a delivery item is determined, for example, by the expiration date, and among products contained in the same chilled delivery, items with a relatively long expiration date have a low priority, while among products contained in the same chilled delivery, items with a relatively short expiration date have a high priority. Note that the priority of this delivery item is not limited to the expiration date, and may be set according to the expiration date or the period during which the item can be sold in a store.

The above-mentioned delivery request information 30a will be explained using product A, product B, and product E shown in Figure 2. Product A, product B, and product E are all chilled products, and are delivered to store A and store B. Two units each of product A and product B are delivered to store A in the first shipment, and two units of product E are delivered in the second shipment. Four units of product A and three units of product B are delivered to store B in the first shipment, and one unit of product E is delivered in the second shipment. The delivery priorities of product A, product B, and product E are "high", "medium", and "low", respectively. In other words, even if they are the same chilled products, the delivery priorities are different.

Although not shown, other delivery request information 30a may include location information of the base where delivery begins, location information of where delivery ends, location information of the delivery destination, etc.

Figure 3 is a diagram showing an example of the data configuration of delivery vehicle information 30b. Delivery vehicle information 30b stores information entered by an administrator at the administrator terminal 100, for example. The delivery vehicle information 30b shown here includes, for example, the number of delivery vehicles, the load capacity of the delivery vehicles, the speed of the delivery vehicles, and the temperature range of the delivery vehicles.

In the example shown in FIG. 3, there are 10 delivery vehicles for chilled deliveries and 5 delivery vehicles for room temperature deliveries departing from a specified delivery base during the same time period (flight). The loading capacity of these delivery vehicles is such that, for chilled deliveries, each vehicle can carry 100 units of box weights. For room temperature deliveries, each vehicle can carry 50 units of box weights. The maximum speed of each delivery vehicle is 60 km/h. Although not shown, other delivery vehicle information 30b may include setting information on the driver's available delivery times, rest times, and driving routes such as whether toll roads or general roads should be used.

Map information 30c is information used for searching routes and identifying the location of delivery destinations, and includes node data indicating the positions of nodes set on the roads on which the vehicle travels, shape interpolation point data indicating the positions of shape interpolation points for identifying the shape of the roads between the nodes, link data indicating the connections between nodes, and feature data indicating the positions and attributes of features on the roads and their surrounding areas. These features include facilities that can be delivery destinations.

It is sufficient that the delivery request information 30a, delivery vehicle information 30b, and map information 30c are recorded on the recording medium 30 at least at the stage of creating a delivery plan, as long as the information for the day for which the plan is to be created is recorded therein. Therefore, if a delivery plan is created for each day, the data for each day is recorded on the recording medium 30 at the time of creating the plan for each day. Alternatively, if a plan is created for multiple days together, for example for a week, the plan can be created with the information for the week recorded on the recording medium 30. Alternatively, even if a delivery plan is created in units shorter than a day, the plan can be created with the information for that unit recorded on the recording medium 30. Also, in this embodiment, the delivery plan information for a flight that precedes the flight for which the plan is to be created and has not yet departed is recorded on the recording medium 30 (not shown).

The delivery assistance program 21 is a program for causing the computer of the delivery assistance system 10 to function as the delivery request information acquisition unit 21a, the delivery vehicle information acquisition unit 21b, and the delivery plan generation unit 21c. The processing of the delivery request information acquisition unit 21a, the delivery vehicle information acquisition unit 21b, and the delivery plan generation unit 21c is realized by the CPU executing the delivery assistance program 21. In other words, in the following explanation, the processing described as being performed by the delivery request information acquisition unit 21a, the delivery vehicle information acquisition unit 21b, and the delivery plan generation unit 21c is processing executed by the control unit 20.

The delivery request information acquisition unit 21a acquires delivery request information 30a via the communication unit 40. That is, the delivery request information acquisition unit 21a acquires delivery request information 30a that becomes part of the information for creating the delivery plan to be created. Specifically, the delivery request information acquisition unit 21a acquires the delivery request information 30a described in FIG. 2. Then, the acquired delivery request information 30a is stored in the recording medium 30.

The delivery vehicle information acquisition unit 21b acquires delivery vehicle information 30b via the communication unit 40. That is, the delivery vehicle information acquisition unit 21b acquires delivery vehicle information 30b that becomes part of the information for creating the delivery plan to be created. Specifically, the delivery vehicle information acquisition unit 21b acquires the delivery vehicle information 30b described in FIG. 3. The acquired delivery vehicle information 30b is then stored in the recording medium 30. Note that the delivery request information 30a and the delivery vehicle information 30b are transmitted, for example, from the administrator terminal 100.

The delivery plan generation unit 21c creates a delivery plan based on the delivery request information 30a, the delivery vehicle information 30b, and the map information 30c so that the delivery vehicle can handle the loading and unloading within a predetermined time period for each delivery destination. In other words, the delivery plan generation unit 21c creates a delivery plan so that the delivery vehicle that departs from the delivery base handles the loading and unloading within the delivery time period for each delivery destination and each store.

Specifically, the delivery plan generating unit 21c creates a delivery plan for delivering products to each store based on the product volume requested by the delivery destination. In this embodiment, the delivery plan generating unit 21c obtains a delivery plan for each temperature zone and each flight, which is the delivery time of the delivery item. That is, the delivery plan generating unit 21c outputs the delivery destination, delivery volume, delivery time, and delivery base location to the VRP server 200 for each temperature zone and each flight, and causes the VRP server 200 to create a delivery plan. Note that the VRP can create a delivery plan for a vehicle departing from a delivery base to deliver products to each store using various known algorithms. In this embodiment, the delivery plan shown in FIG. 4, which will be described later, is generated by inputting the above-mentioned delivery request information 30a, delivery vehicle information 30b, and map information 30c.

Figure 4 is a diagram showing an example of delivery plan information showing a delivery plan created based on delivery request information 30a, delivery vehicle information 30b, and map information 30c. As can be seen from this Figure 4, the delivery destination, the load of the delivery item, the temperature range of the delivery item, the arrival and departure times, and the driving route are created for each vehicle. For example, in the case of a vehicle with vehicle ID "001" (chilled delivery), the delivery destinations are store A, store B, and other stores not shown, and two units of chilled products A and B are delivered to store A. In addition, the vehicle with vehicle ID "001" arrives at store A at 4:00 and departs store A at 4:30. In this case, the deliverer is scheduled to unload the delivery items within 30 minutes after arriving at store A at 4:00. Furthermore, the vehicle with vehicle ID "001" arrives at store B at 5:00 and departs store B at 5:30. In this case, the deliverer is scheduled to arrive at store B at 5:00 and unload the delivery within 30 minutes. The travel route is defined by the sequence of nodes indicated by the map information 30c. For example, in the delivery plan information shown in FIG. 4, the route for the vehicle with vehicle ID "001" to travel from the base to store A is a route that passes through nodes N11 to N15. The route for the vehicle with vehicle ID "001" to travel from store A to store B is a route that passes through node data N21 to N25. Of course, the travel route may be defined in various ways, and may be defined by the sequence of links indicating the connections between nodes, or may be defined by the sequence of nodes and links. Note that the vehicle with vehicle ID "002" (room temperature delivery) is as shown in FIG. 4, and although the load, arrival and departure times, and travel route are different, the contents of the delivery plan for vehicle ID "001" are the same, so a description thereof will be omitted.

On the other hand, the delivery plan generated as described above may have errors depending on the results of VRP. For example, if the total amount of deliveries (total amount of deliveries to each delivery destination) is relatively large compared to the maximum load capacity, which is the sum of the load capacities of multiple delivery vehicles, the delivery vehicles of a specific delivery service (e.g., the second service) may not be able to load all the deliveries, causing an error. Alternatively, the delivery vehicles of a specific delivery service (e.g., the second service carrying product E to store A) may not be able to load all the deliveries, causing an error. In this way, if the load capacity of the deliveries is large compared to the load capacity of the delivery vehicles, it may not be possible to meet the delivery times of each destination store. Therefore, in the control unit 20 in this embodiment, a delivery plan is first created by the delivery plan generation unit 21c, and if an error occurs as a result of VRP using the created delivery plan, the delivery plan is modified.

Specifically, the control unit 20 creates a delivery plan by the delivery plan generation unit 21c. As described above, the control unit 20 creates a delivery plan for each temperature zone of the delivery items and for each flight based on the delivery request information 30a, the delivery vehicle information 30b, and the map information 30c. Next, the control unit 20 judges whether all the delivery items to be delivered can be delivered using the created delivery plan (in other words, the flight for which the plan is created). That is, the control unit 20 judges whether there are any delivery items that cannot be loaded onto the delivery vehicle and overflow for each delivery flight. This is realized, for example, when an error occurs as a result of the VRP when the load of the delivery items (i.e., the delivery amount) is large compared to the load of the delivery vehicle, in which case the control unit 20 judges that at least some of the delivery items cannot be delivered using the created delivery plan. In other words, the control unit 20 judges that all the delivery items to be delivered cannot be delivered. Conversely, when no error occurs as a result of the VRP, the control unit 20 judges that all the delivery items to be delivered can be delivered using the created delivery plan.

Next, when the control unit 20 determines that at least some of the deliveries that should be delivered according to the created delivery plan cannot be delivered due to an error occurring in the VRP results, the control unit 20 calculates the delivery volume of the deliveries that cannot be delivered. The delivery volume of the deliveries that cannot be delivered can be obtained, for example, from the VRP results.

Then, based on the result of the VRP, the control unit 20 extracts or identifies from the delivery vehicle of the flight for which the plan is to be created, deliveries to be sent to a flight (e.g., the first flight) that is earlier than the flight for which the plan is to be created (e.g., the second flight) and has not yet departed. If the deliveries overflow from the delivery vehicle, the deliveries will be sent to another delivery flight. For example, in the delivery plan described in the above-mentioned Patent Document 1, deliveries that cannot be loaded are configured to be sent to a delivery flight on the next day or later. However, if the deliveries are sent to a delivery flight on the next day, the deliveries will be delivered later than the scheduled delivery time. Therefore, in this embodiment, the control unit 20 is configured to send deliveries that cannot be loaded onto the flight for which the plan is to be created (hereinafter also referred to as the delivery flight) to a delivery flight that is earlier than the delivery flight and has not yet departed. This reduces or avoids the possibility that the deliveries will be delivered later than the scheduled delivery time. Note that complying with the delivery time in this embodiment means that at least the deliveries can be made earlier than the scheduled delivery time, and therefore does not have to be exactly the same as the scheduled delivery time.

Here, the priority of the delivery items when extracting the delivery items to be sent to the previous delivery will be explained. As described above, the priority of the delivery items is an index determined according to the need to comply with the delivery time, and is determined based on the best-before date, expiration date, saleable period, etc. For example, when the delivery is a chilled delivery, the chilled delivery items are assumed to be rice balls, bento boxes, side dishes, cooked bread, salads, dairy products, desserts, etc. Among these chilled items, rice balls, bento boxes, salads, cooked bread, etc. have particularly short best-before dates. In contrast, dairy products have relatively long best-before dates compared to other products such as rice balls. Therefore, dairy products have a low priority as a delivery item to be delivered by the delivery service. In this embodiment, deliveries to be sent to the delivery plan of the previous delivery are extracted from such low-priority delivery items. This makes it possible to maintain the freshness of each product to be delivered.

In addition to having a short expiration date, onigiri and bento lunches are products that should be delivered at specific times, such as breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and delivery times should be adhered to. In other words, onigiri and bento lunches need to be freshly made and prevented from drying out. Therefore, it is preferable for such products to be delivered by the delivery service in question, and the delivery items have a high priority.

Although we will not go into detail about room temperature or frozen deliveries, just like chilled deliveries, the priority is determined based on the expiration date (best before date or sellable period) and deliveries to be moved to the next shipment are selected.

Then, the control unit 20 recreates the delivery plan. That is, the control unit 20 modifies the delivery plan to add the deliveries that cannot be loaded on the delivery flight to the cargo of the delivery plan of the previous flight that was created. In other words, the control unit 20 performs a reduction correction to reduce the deliveries in the delivery plan that cannot be delivered by the delivery flight, and performs an increase correction to increase the deliveries by incorporating the reduced deliveries into the delivery plan of the previous flight. This reduction correction and increase correction are performed by modifying the delivery plan that was created without executing the VRP again. That is, the control unit 20 performs an increase correction of the deliveries in the delivery plan of the previous flight that was created, and performs a reduction correction of the deliveries in the delivery plan of the delivery flight that was created.

Then, the control unit 20 judges whether all of the deliveries to be delivered can be delivered in the re-created delivery plan of the previous flight. If the control unit 20 judges that all of the deliveries can be delivered in the re-created delivery plan of the previous flight, the control unit 20 executes the re-created delivery plan. On the other hand, even if an increase correction is made to add deliveries to the delivery plan of the previous flight, there are cases where all of the deliveries that cannot be loaded on the delivery flight (i.e., the delivery plan of the original flight) cannot be delivered on the previous flight. In other words, if there are more deliveries that cannot be loaded than the free space in the loading compartment of the delivery vehicle of the previous flight, even if the deliveries are diverted to the previous flight, the delivery vehicle cannot load all of the deliveries. In other words, the delivery vehicle cannot deliver all of the deliveries on the delivery flight and the previous flight. Therefore, if there are deliveries that cannot be loaded even after adding the deliveries that cannot be loaded to the delivery plan of the previous flight, the control unit 20 proposes to increase the number of delivery vehicles on the delivery flight that is the flight for which the plan is to be created. This reduces or avoids the possibility of deliveries being delivered later than the scheduled delivery time.

Even if there is no free space in the cargo space of the previous delivery service and it is not possible to increase the amount of delivery, the system will propose increasing the number of delivery vehicles on that delivery service. This will reduce or avoid the possibility of deliveries being delivered later than the scheduled delivery time.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described. As described above, in this embodiment, the control unit 20 determines whether all of the deliveries to be delivered can be delivered by the delivery service that is the service for which the plan is being created. If all of the deliveries cannot be delivered by the delivery service, the delivery time scheduled for the delivery destination may not be met. Therefore, if some of the deliveries cannot be loaded onto the delivery vehicle and all of the deliveries cannot be delivered, the system is configured to prioritize deliveries, for example those with relatively long expiration dates, and send them to an earlier delivery service that has not yet departed. Therefore, the delivery support system 10 of this embodiment can reduce or avoid delivery times that are later than the delivery destination's scheduled time, and as a result, the delivery time scheduled for the delivery destination can be met.

In addition, when some of the deliveries cannot be loaded onto a delivery vehicle and all of the deliveries cannot be delivered, the control unit 20 performs a reduction correction to reduce the number of deliveries in the delivery plan (the delivery plan for the flight for which the plan is being created) and performs an increase correction to add the revised deliveries to the delivery plan for an earlier flight that has not yet departed. In addition, an increase correction adds (i.e. incorporates) the deliveries that were reduced in the delivery plan to the delivery plan that was already planned for the previous flight. In other words, the control unit 20 does not re-create the delivery plan by performing VRP again, but adds packages to delivery vehicles with available space in the loading compartment in the already created delivery plan. Therefore, the control unit 20 does not need to perform high-load processing such as re-executing VRP when revising the delivery plan, and in other words, delivery support can be performed by the simple control described above.

In addition, as described above, in this embodiment, when some of the delivery items cannot be loaded onto the delivery vehicle and all of the delivery items cannot be delivered, items with relatively long expiration dates are sent to the previous delivery. For example, when the delivery vehicle is a chilled delivery vehicle, among multiple chilled products, items with relatively long expiration dates are sent to the previous delivery. In other words, items with relatively short expiration dates are delivered by that delivery vehicle. Items with short expiration dates are items that require relatively fresh food, or items that require "freshly made," "freshly picked," "freshness," etc. Therefore, items with short expiration dates can meet requirements such as freshness by being delivered by that delivery vehicle. In other words, in this embodiment, even if some of the delivery items cannot be loaded onto the delivery vehicle and all of the delivery items cannot be delivered, it is possible to meet requirements such as freshness while adhering to the delivery destination's scheduled delivery time.

Furthermore, in this embodiment, the delivery is completed at or before the scheduled delivery time of the delivery destination, so the delivery destination store will not receive the delivery after the scheduled delivery time. Therefore, for example, if the delivery is delivered to the delivery destination store later than the scheduled delivery time, it may cause discomfort to the store or damage the product value, but in this embodiment, such an event does not occur, so it is possible to deliver the delivery without causing discomfort to the store or damaging the product value.

(2) Delivery support processing:
Next, the delivery support process executed by the control unit 20 will be described. Fig. 5 is a flowchart showing an example of the delivery support process executed by the control unit 20. In this embodiment, the delivery support process is started when the control unit 20 of the delivery support system 10 acquires a start instruction from the manager terminal 100 via the communication unit 40.

When the delivery assistance process is started, first, the control unit 20 creates a delivery plan (step S1). That is, the control unit 20 creates a delivery plan based on the above-mentioned delivery request information 30a, delivery vehicle information 30b, and map information 30c by using the function of the delivery plan generation unit 21c. Specifically, the control unit 20 extracts information on the delivery item to be delivered by the delivery service from the delivery request information 30a, and outputs the delivery vehicle information 30b and map information 30c together to the VRP server 200. Note that the premise for executing this step S1 is that at least one delivery plan for the previous service has already been created and that the previous service has not yet departed.

Then, the control unit 20 judges whether or not all of the deliveries to be delivered can be delivered (step S2). This is the step in which it is judged whether or not all of the deliveries to be delivered can be delivered by the delivery service. If the control unit 20 judges in the affirmative in this step S2, it does not execute any further control and temporarily ends the routine shown in the flowchart of FIG. 5.

On the other hand, if the control unit 20 judges negative in step S2, that is, if some of the deliveries cannot be loaded onto the delivery vehicle and all of the deliveries cannot be delivered, the control unit 20 calculates the amount of deliveries that cannot be delivered (step S3). For example, if the control unit 20 judges that all of the deliveries cannot be delivered in step S2, the control unit 20 can obtain information such as the amount of deliveries that overflow from the delivery vehicle from the results of the VRP, and calculates the amount of deliveries that cannot be delivered from that information. More specifically, even if some of the deliveries that should be delivered cannot be delivered, when the VRP is executed, a delivery plan is created to deliver as many of the deliveries that have been requested for delivery as possible, and an error occurs with the deliveries that cannot be loaded remaining. Therefore, the overflowing deliveries are in a state where a delivery vehicle to load them has not been specified, but the other deliveries are in a state where a delivery vehicle to load them has been specified. Based on the results of the VRP as described above, the control unit 20 calculates the amount of deliveries (the number of units in the above example) for which a delivery vehicle to load them has not been specified in step S3.

Next, the control unit 20 extracts the delivery to be sent to the previous delivery (step S4). That is, the control unit 20 extracts (or identifies) a delivery that has not yet departed and is to be sent to a delivery before the delivery. Here, the delivery to be sent to the previous delivery is determined according to the need to comply with the delivery time defined by, for example, the expiration date or the period during which the delivery can be sold. That is, when the delivery is a chilled delivery, among the multiple chilled products, the delivery with a low priority (the delivery with a long expiration date) is preferentially sent to the previous delivery. More specifically, the control unit 20 refers to the delivery request information 30a and identifies the priority of the delivery (overflow delivery) for which a delivery vehicle to be loaded has not been specified. If the priority of the delivery is low, the control unit 20 sets the delivery to be sent to the previous delivery. If the priority of the delivery for which a delivery vehicle to be loaded has not been specified is high, there is a high possibility that a delivery vehicle to be loaded for a delivery with a lower priority than the delivery is specified. Therefore, the control unit 20 refers to the delivery request information 30a, and extracts deliveries one by one, starting with those with a low associated priority, and repeats this extraction process until the delivery volume of the extracted deliveries becomes the same as the delivery volume (number of units) calculated in step S3. This allows deliveries with a low priority to be prioritized as deliveries to be sent to the next delivery. Note that when there are multiple deliveries with the same priority, the extraction order may be determined according to a predetermined rule. For example, a rule may be adopted in which deliveries that are to be delivered to the same store as an already extracted deliveries are preferentially extracted.

Next, the control unit 20 recreates the delivery plan (step S5). Specifically, the control unit 20 performs a reduction correction to reduce the number of deliveries that cannot be loaded on the delivery flight, and an increase correction to add the reduced deliveries to the cargo of the delivery plan of the previous flight that was created. The reduction correction is a correction to delete the deliveries extracted in step S4 from the delivery targets in the delivery plan created in step S1. Specifically, if the deliveries to be sent to the previous flight extracted in step S4 are deliveries for which a delivery vehicle to be loaded has not been specified, the control unit 20 deletes the deliveries from the delivery targets in the delivery plan created in step S1. If the deliveries to be sent to the previous flight extracted in step S4 are deliveries for which a delivery vehicle to be loaded has been specified, the control unit 20 deletes the deliveries from the delivery targets to be delivered by the delivery vehicle. Furthermore, the control unit 20 associates the overflow deliveries with the delivery vehicle from which the deliveries have been deleted, and modifies the delivery plan so that the deliveries are deliveries by the delivery vehicle. The increase correction is a correction in which the delivery items extracted in step S4 are added to the luggage of the previous delivery vehicle that has free space in the loading platform.

Then, the control unit 20 judges whether all of the deliveries to be delivered in the revised delivery plan of the previous flight can be delivered (step S6). That is, the control unit 20 judges whether the amount of deliveries overflowing from the previous flight can be loaded. Specifically, in the reduction and increase correction of step S5, the control unit 20 judges that all of the deliveries extracted in step S4 can be delivered if they can be made into parcels for the delivery vehicle of the delivery flight or the previous flight. If the judgment in step S6 is affirmative, that is, if it is judged that all of the deliveries to be delivered in the delivery plan of the previous flight can be delivered, the control unit 20 executes the delivery plan recreated in step S5 (step S7). That is, the control unit 20 executes the above-mentioned reduction correction of the deliveries of the delivery flight and the increase correction of the deliveries of the previous flight.

On the other hand, if the above-mentioned step S6 returns a negative result, that is, if it is determined that all of the deliveries to be delivered in the delivery plan for the previous flight cannot be delivered, the control unit 20 proposes adding more vehicles to the delivery flight (step S8). Specifically, the control unit 20 transmits information to the manager terminal 100 via the communication unit 40, encouraging the addition of more vehicles. The manager terminal 100 displays the information on an interface (not shown). That is, even if the deliveries that cannot be loaded on the delivery flight are diverted to the previous flight, the delivery support system 10 proposes to the manager of the manager terminal 100 to increase the number of delivery vehicles on the delivery flight, since it is not possible to load all of the deliveries.

(3) Other embodiments:
The above embodiment is an example for implementing the present invention, and various other embodiments can be adopted. For example, the delivery support system 10 and the VRP server 200 may be configured in the same device. Alternatively, the delivery support system 10 and the manager terminal 100 may be configured in the same device. Alternatively, the manager terminal 100 and the VRP server 200 may be configured in the same device. Alternatively, the delivery support system 10, the manager terminal 100, and the VRP server 200 may be configured in the same device. In addition, the delivery support system 10 may be configured in a plurality of systems. For example, some of the functions of the delivery support system 10 may be realized in the manager terminal 100 or in a cloud server.

The user of the administrator terminal 100 may be located at a logistics base or at the ordering party. The administrator terminal 100 may be provided in a delivery vehicle or may be a portable terminal, etc. At least some of the components constituting the delivery support system 10 (delivery request information acquisition unit 21a, delivery vehicle information acquisition unit 21b, delivery plan generation unit 21c) may be separated into multiple devices. Configurations in which some of the components of the above-mentioned embodiments are omitted, configurations in which the processing is changed, or configurations in which processing is omitted may also be envisioned.

In addition, while the above embodiment has been described assuming delivery assistance when delivering products to each convenience store, this is not limited to convenience stores and may be applied to various delivery assistance systems that deliver parcels to supermarkets, commercial facilities, factories, etc.

The delivery request information acquisition unit 21a only needs to acquire delivery request information 30a including the delivery destination, delivery volume, and delivery time of the delivery item. The delivery destination, delivery volume, and delivery time of the delivery item only need to be parameters for creating a delivery plan, and other information may be included in the parameters. Although the delivery volume is described in the delivery request information 30a of FIG. 2 as being expressed in units of "units," "kilos" or "tons" may also be used. Although the delivery request information 30a shown in FIG. 2 indicates that the temperature zones of the delivery items are chilled and room temperature, other temperature zones such as frozen may also be included.

The delivery time may be any information for specifying a deadline for delivering a delivery item, and when a delivery is scheduled to be made within a specific time period on a specific delivery service, as in the above embodiment, the delivery service associated with the delivery item can be considered to be the delivery time associated with the delivery item. In this way, the delivery time may be specified indirectly, or in various other ways. Of course, the delivery time may be specified directly by a time period, or may be specified by the length of time from a reference time (e.g., the time the order is confirmed, etc.).

Similarly, the delivery vehicle information acquisition unit 21b only needs to acquire delivery vehicle information 30b including the number of delivery vehicles and the load capacity of the delivery vehicles. The number of delivery vehicles and the load capacity of the delivery vehicles may be parameters for creating a delivery plan, and other information may be included in the parameters. The number of delivery vehicles and the load capacity of the delivery vehicles may be information for specifying the amount of deliveries that can be delivered in one delivery plan, and if the load capacity differs for each delivery vehicle, the load capacity is defined for each delivery vehicle. Although the delivery vehicle information 30b in FIG. 3 is described using "units" as the unit of load capacity of the delivery vehicle, "kilos" or "tons" may also be used. Although the delivery vehicle information 30b shown in FIG. 3 is described using chilled and room temperature as examples of temperature zones, other temperature zones such as frozen may also be included. Furthermore, the delivery vehicle information may not be temperature controlled.

When a delivery plan that cannot comply with the delivery time is acquired, the delivery plan generating unit 21c may add the deliveries included in the delivery plan that cannot comply with the delivery time to the delivery plan of the previous flight that has not yet departed. Therefore, in the embodiment described in FIG. 1 and FIG. 5 above, an example of a case where the delivery time cannot be complied with is shown in which an error occurs in the VRP result due to a cause of not being able to load some of the deliveries into the delivery vehicle, but this is not limited to this. For example, the delivery plan may be revised by the delivery plan generating unit 21c when it becomes necessary to revise a delivery plan that has already been created. Since requests for deliveries from delivery destinations change daily, for example, on a hot summer day, requests for drinking water, ice cream, rock ice, etc. may increase on the day or immediately before delivery compared to the initial plan. In such a case, the delivery volume of the delivery service increases, and there is a risk that the delivery service will not be able to deliver all of the deliveries. Therefore, the delivery plan generating unit 21c (i.e., the control unit 20) executes the control described in FIG. 1 and FIG. 5, that is, transfers some of the deliveries to the delivery plan of the previous flight that has not yet departed. This helps to avoid deliveries being made later than scheduled, meaning delivery times can be kept to the scheduled time.

Furthermore, a state in which the delivery time cannot be met is, for example, a state in which a mandatory target set for a deadline cannot be achieved. For example, if the delivery time is allowed to exceed a preset length of time (for example, 10 minutes), the delivery time can be considered to be met if the delivery is completed before the preset length of time has elapsed in addition to the delivery time. Also, for example, consider a case in which a sales period is set for the delivery item, and the mandatory target is to complete delivery at a time that is a preset period before the end of the sales period. In this case, the sales period can be considered to indirectly specify the delivery time. It is also possible to consider that the delivery time cannot be met if the delivery is not completed at or before the time that is a preset period before the end of the sales period.

In addition, in the embodiment shown in Figures 1 to 5, it has been described that a delivery vehicle corresponding to each product (chilled product, room temperature product, frozen product) is used, but if temperature control corresponding to each product can be performed in the luggage compartment (cargo bed) of the delivery vehicle, products of multiple temperature ranges may be loaded onto one vehicle. For example, multiple types of products, both chilled and room temperature, may be temperature controlled in the luggage compartment of one vehicle using a two-layer structure or the like. Note that if the delivery time cannot be met, the delivery plan may be modified so that room temperature products, whose quality will not be affected even if the temperature is lowered, are delivered in the chilled temperature range.

The present invention can also be applied as a program or method. The above-mentioned systems, programs, and methods may be realized as standalone devices or may be realized by using parts shared with the various parts of the vehicle, and include various aspects. For example, it is possible to provide a method or program realized by the above-mentioned system. Also, it can be modified as appropriate, such as being partly software and partly hardware. Furthermore, the invention can also be realized as a recording medium for a program that controls the device. Of course, the recording medium for the software may be a magnetic recording medium or a semiconductor memory, and any recording medium developed in the future can be considered in exactly the same way.

10...Delivery support system, 20...Control unit, 21...Delivery support program, 21a...Delivery request information acquisition unit, 21b...Delivery vehicle information acquisition unit, 21c...Delivery plan generation unit, 30...Recording medium, 30a...Delivery request information, 30b...Delivery vehicle information, 30c...Map information, 40...Communication unit, 100...Administrator terminal, 200...VRP server.

Claims (5)

a delivery request information acquisition unit that acquires delivery request information including a delivery destination, a delivery amount, and a delivery time of a delivery item;
A delivery vehicle information acquisition unit that acquires delivery vehicle information including the number of delivery vehicles and the load capacity of the delivery vehicles;
a delivery plan generating unit that generates a delivery plan based on the delivery request information and the delivery vehicle information,
the delivery plan generation unit acquires a plurality of delivery plans for different delivery times, and when a delivery plan that cannot comply with the delivery time is acquired, corrects the delivery plan that cannot comply with the delivery time so that the delivery item included in the delivery plan is delivered at an earlier time than the delivery plan.
Delivery support system. The modification of the delivery plan is a decrease modification for reducing the number of deliveries of the delivery plan that cannot comply with the delivery time, and an increase modification for delivering the reduced deliveries by the delivery plan whose delivery time is earlier than that of the delivery plan.
The delivery assistance system according to claim 1 . The increase correction is a correction to add the delivery items of the delivery plan that cannot comply with the delivery time to the cargo of the delivery vehicle that will make delivery under the delivery plan whose delivery time is earlier than that of the delivery plan.
The delivery assistance system according to claim 2. the delivery request information includes information indicating a priority according to the need to comply with the delivery time,
The delivery plan generation unit determines the delivery pieces to be modified based on the priority.
The delivery assistance system according to any one of claims 1 to 3. The delivery item to be modified is the delivery item having a relatively low priority.
The delivery assistance system according to claim 4.

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